Space, Time and Fashion
by Suuntavaisto
Summary: Later, Kurt would leave out the high pitched squeak he let out as the door behind him suddenly unlatched and opened, causing his arms to windmill as he fell backwards into – into – This wasn't a blue box, this was a -
1. Chapter 1

**So yeah. I haven't written fic for a long while now. Let's see what happens.**

Kurt ran.

He could hear his footsteps thudding along the forest floor, crunching through the thin carpet of leaves that had fallen early from the trees. He could also hear the jeering shouts of the jocks behind him, three of them, screaming _fag_ and _slow down, queer_! And he knew that if he even thought about doing so he'd end up with more than the bloody nose and sore ribs he had already gained.

He was sobbing, he thinks, though he's less focused on pulling air into his lungs and more intent on getting away and hiding and giving in to the panic that was threatening to consume him. _God,_ he was an idiot, why did he think it would be a good idea skip glee and go to the park for some quiet contemplation about why people at school were so dead set on making his life a living-

He stumbled, swearing loudly, voice hitching between violent sobs. His shoulders shuddered as he looked around wildly for somewhere to justhide and what he would give right now for the ability to make himself invisible and just get away, away, away. He knew they were still after him – _We're gonna find you, fag! - _and he knew there was no way in hell he could allow that to happen.

Was he even still breathing? His lungs were burning and for one wild moment, Kurt thought that perhaps he'd die before they caught him and wouldn't that just be the icing on a very large, bitter cake. He briefly wondered whether it would hurt more from suffocating or having his head kicked in because this hurt quite a lot, though he was already injured from the altercation earlier with the Neanderthals currently hunting him, so he couldn't put it all down to the fact that he was _unable to breathe_, or see, for that matter, his eyes being so blurry from tears as they were.

He huffed and sniffed, scrubbing wildly at his eyes. He had to find somewhere to hide, he had to get away and maybe if it was a good enough hiding spot he could just stay there forever and not have to deal with other people ever again. But there was nowhere to hide, just endless trees and nothing, nothing, nothing.

And then, something.

Kurt felt his breath catch suddenly, staring in bewilderment at the thing that was completely out of place within the clashing of greens and browns. A box. A blue box sitting in the middle of the trees, big letters announcing "POLICE" written on the top of it. A blue box with "POLICE" written on it that hadn't been there before, Kurt was sure of it. How in the hell would he have missed something like this? Other than being unable to see or breathe or- forget it.

His nose wrinkled as he wiped at it, frowning at the crimson stain left behind on his hand. Still bleeding then, and actually, now that he'd stopped for a little bit and allowed himself to get past the whole breathing issue he realised that his ribs _hurt_ or, well, all of him hurt. His chest hurt from the exertion, his head hurt from trying to hold back a full blown panic attack and his feet hurt because, well, what a day to pick to break in some new boots.

This was ridiculous. He was all for flying solo, but these jerks would likely kill him if they caught him again. Kurt was moving before he even realised, hands scrabbling on the dirty floor as he stumbled clumsily to his feet, swiftly crossing the gap to the strange object.

With shaking hands, he reached for the handle of what seemed to be a small compartment on the outside, his heart thudding quickly at the promise of rescue. They had to leave him alone if he got the police involved, right? Even if the police couldn't do anything, it would make them back off until the next time and that was good enough right now. He lifted the receiver, cringing and looking around at the sudden; "You can't hide forever, homo!" that sounded far too close for comfort.

Nothing but silence.

"No, please!" He gasped, panic brewing again at the lack of a dial tone.

He spun the dial on the handset, hitting the side of the telephone with a muffled, desperate sob, trying to connect with someone – _anyone_ – but there was still nothing, only silence, and the taunting of the jocks that was getting ever louder. Kurt dropped the receiver back into its holder with a quiet cry of defeat, slumping backwards against the wooden doors of the strange blue box. He gazed unhappily into the forest, trying not to think of how much it would hurt when they finally reached him.

Later, Kurt would leave out the high pitched squeak he let out as the door behind him suddenly unlatched and opened, causing his arms to windmill as he fell backwards into – into – This wasn't a blue box, this was a -

He turned slowly onto his stomach, and then his knees, mouth slack in pure shock. He had to have hit his head, that was the only possible explanation because this was – this was just – He wasn't breathing again, he realised dimly, staring upwards at a tall column in the centre of a circular panel full of all sorts of buttons and switches.

Kurt stood abruptly, ignoring the flare of pain in his ribs as he scrabbled backwards out of the door, deaf and blind to all except this _thing, _this.. He had to have missed something, he thought desperately, stumbling over himself as he circled the box, trailing one hand lightly over the weathered blue wood, as if he was physically marking the boundaries that it sat on.

But that was it. Just a box. Just a blue box, sitting in the middle of the forest, with a room ten times the size of the outside, on the inside.

He stood frozen for a moment, before a shout of; "Fuck! Is that him? Over here!" met his ears, and then he was moving, inside, slamming the door closed behind him and, when he couldn't find a lock or _anything_, backing away to find somewhere to hide because he could hear them now, right outside, and oh, _fuck,_ they must have seen him. They had to have seen him and it didn't matter that this box was impossible or that it was likely he was still out there in the forest and he'd just lost it completely or had been found and already kicked into oblivion and this was all in his head to help him through the trauma, he had to _get away._

"Please," He gasped brokenly, all but throwing himself at the space underneath the clear walkway that the circular console sat on. "Please, please, please." He chanted as he curled into as tight a ball as he could manage with the vicious twinging of his ribs and pressed himself against the nearest wall. It warmed a little as he pressed against it, almost trying to push himself through the panelling, but it was metal and metal conducts heat, so that wasn't unusual. Even if it was the entire panel that was warming to a comforting heat and not just the part he was touching.

"Hey homo, you hiding in here?" He heard, "The police ain't coming for you!" They were laughing now, loudly, and Kurt pushed a fist against his mouth as if this could make him disappear, trying to stay quiet, big, horrible tears streaming down his face as he stared at the closed doors of the box.

Unfortunately, he let out a startled yelp as the door suddenly thundered back and forth, like someone was trying to force their way in, which was probably exactly what was happening. Once again, pushing himself backwards against the wall, bracing himself for the sudden rain of kicks and punches and taunts, one hand slapped firmly over his mouth to withhold any further position revealing noises.

And then, suddenly: "It's locked man, Hummel ain't here."

… Locked? That wasn't possible, though why finding himself sat in a small blue box, that was bigger on the inside was any more likely that a door that locked itself, Kurt didn't know. He winced as they tried the door again, a thought that if they couldn't get in, he couldn't get out flashing briefly through his mind, but really he was too relieved that he wasn't being pounded into dust to care.

"Let's try this way," He heard, the jocks having decided the strange, blue box wasn't worth bothering with. "I saw him man, I swear. He's got to be around here somewhere." And then they were gone.

They were gone. They were gone and he was safe, albeit possibly trapped in the impossible box. Kurt could've cried. In fact, he was crying. Deep, ugly, breathy sobs that made his shoulders shake and he had never, never, never hated himself more than he did in that moment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yeah, not too sure about this one. Have been completely run ragged with work. No Kurt. Haven't got a beta reader either, so all mistakes are mine. Will all kick off in the third chapter, promise. (Also, thank you so much for your alerts and reviews.)**

"See! What did I tell you!"

The Doctor twirled on the spot, one hand clutching a plastic cup, containing a garish mix of red dye colouring and ice, gesturing it towards Amy and Rory who were following behind him. "Best slushies in the world! Didn't I tell you?"

"You sure told us." Replied Amy, dryly. She was holding her own blue creation (it matched her nails), feeling a little more than skeptical. "So, let me get this straight. You have the whole of time and space at your disposal, and you take us to some pokey little shop in modern day Ohio to get us a drink?" She smiled over at Rory who was trying to concentrate on his drink, but at the same time, not trip over anything.

"Oh, that's so- You humans!" The Doctor shook his head, striding forwards towards where he'd parked the TARDIS, leaving his companions to hurry to catch up. "Once you've been to a few other planets, everything on your own home becomes so boring. That's boring. That opinion is boring, Amelia Pond, and I would have thought better of you."

She grinned and sipped at her straw, unapologetically.

Ahead of her, The Doctor suddenly stopped and raised a finger, keeping it in the air as he turned back to Amy and Rory. "Question," He said, the tone of his voice low and concerned. "Did I or did I not leave the TARDIS invisible before we left today?"

"Yeah, you said that you liked their drinks but you wouldn't trust them as far as you could throw them." Rory paraphrased, finishing off his drink and then looking around awkwardly for somewhere to put it, as if there would be rubbish bins that far out in the forest. After a moment, he looked down at the empty cup, resigned to holding it with sticky fingers for the time being.

"But it's right there," Said Amy, frowning and pointing as Rory sent her a questioning look. "The TARDIS, it's right there. Not invisible."

"Exactly." Said The Doctor, turning back to his ship, "It's not. Which means something, or someone, must have stumbled upon her."

"But, it was invisible, how could anyone have stumbled upon it?" Asked Rory, following The Doctor as he got as close to the doors as he could, staring intently at the blue wood as if it held all the secrets of the universe. Amy and Rory simply swapped a resigned look, knowing they weren't going to be receiving an explanation.

"Doctor!" Exclaimed Rory, nose wrinkling as the man leant forward to lick part of the door.

"Someone tried to use the phone," Said The Doctor, taking a few steps back as he looked the TARDIS up and down, brow creased in confusion and a little bit of worry. "They were scared, terrified. Oh girl, what are you up to?"

"Er- the phone?"

The Timelord whirled on his companions, "Yes, the phone. It's a public police phone box. Do keep up Rory, won't you? Now!" He exclaimed, cutting Rory off before he could defend himself. "Question is- Well, couple of questions. How did they see the TARDIS, how did they get inside and, and this is my favourite question, what on earth were they so afraid of?"

"Of course that would be your favourite question," Murmured Rory, with an air of tired exasperation.

"Get inside? They're inside?" Asked Amy, moving to stand next to her friend. She was gazing cautiously at the closed doors of the police box, as if something was already waiting to jump out at her. "What if they're dangerous?"

"Only one way to find out." The Doctor replied with a wry grin, it fading fast as he pushed on the doors and they remained firmly closed. "It's locked!" He exclaimed, pushing a hand into his pocket rummaging around, "Okay, now I'm annoyed," He was spluttering a little, as he pulled the small golden key from his seemingly endless pockets, "Locked out of my own TARDIS!" The Yale key slipped in to the lock easily, luckily turning and opening the door immediately. "Right then! Who's in here?"

"Doctor!" Hissed Amy, following her friend in, albeit slightly more cautiously. "You might want to be careful? Unknown random thing broke into the TARDIS, remember?"

"It could be anywhere." Added Rory, peering around his wife's shoulder.

"It could be!" Agreed the Doctor, "Hopefully whatever it is, it hasn't reached any of the particle rooms, that would be bad. Very bad. End of the world bad." He spun around on his heel and began pressing buttons on the centre console. "But! Not to worry, it's fine. I'll find it. Now then, now then- Aha!" He almost seemed to dance as he circled the console, randomly moving forwards to press various buttons, pull levers, glance at monitors and, at one point, knock over what seemed to be a slinky.

Amy followed him up the stairs towards the centre console, hugging herself a little as she glanced around. "Are you sure you can find it?" She asked, cautiously, "If it's gone off down the corridor it could be anywhere."

"Don't worry, this is my ship." Replied the Doctor confidently, not even looking up from his fiddling. "I know her like the back of my hand!"

Rory had only moved a few steps from the door, ".. Guys?"

"Er, right." Amy pursed her lips for a second, "Only the other day we found that garden that you didn't know about."

"Misplaced, Amy, I misplaced it. I knew all about it." He ran a hand through his hair, looking up at his companion sheepishly. "I mean, I didn't know about that particular garden, but I knew there was a garden somewhere." He returned his attention to the console, forehead creased as he read through a jumble of letters on the console, none of which made any sense to Amy.

"Guys?" Rory tried again.

"And anyway!" Continued the Doctor, ignoring the younger man. "Not knowing is fun sometimes, it creates adventures and learning. Who wants to know everything anyway? You can't say it's not fun opening a door and not knowing where it leads."

Amy frowned a little, moving over to lean on the console, looking a little more than dubious. "Yeah, but not when there's a possible dangerous thing that could be behind the door. A monster or a space creature."

"Or a boy." Added Rory.

"What's wrong with dangerous things?" Asked the Doctor, sounding incredibly affronted as he pressed buttons on the monitor quickly, scrolling through pages of text in seconds. Suddenly, his hands slowed and he frowned, tilting his head towards Rory, who was stood at the base of the stairs, looking underneath the walkway. The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows, taking a step over to the younger man. "A boy?"

Rory looked up at him, nodded a little and pointed.

Within seconds, the Doctor had jumped down next to him, peering into the dim blue light that lit up the underside of the central control room. He looked a little dumbfounded, mouth open in confusion. "Rory." He said, slowly. "There's a boy on my ship."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the wait, work and writers block and all that. Also, thank you for all the lovely reviews, I really enjoy reading them. I keep forgetting to say this, but this is an AU (if you haven't figured that out already. Next chapter will make that clearer.)**

Rory crouched next to the limp body of the boy they'd discovered in the TARDIS, gazing unhappily at the dried blood on the boys face and clothes. He'd asked Amy to find some sort of first aid kit once he'd realised The Doctor was going to do no more than pace besides the stairs up to the centre console.

"How could this have happened?" Asked The Doctor, turning on one heel in order to begin pacing in the other direction. His hair was sticking up in a maniacal fashion after running his hands through it more than a few times.

"Looks like he was beaten up," Rory replied, carefully lowering the boys head and shifting to look questioningly at The Doctor as he let out an amused noise.

"Not that!" Said the Timelord, almost condescendingly as he gestured around himself, "How did he get in? The TARDIS was invisible!"

"Doctor." Rory spoke slowly, appalled. "He was beaten up."

The Doctor, as if somehow suddenly being struck by how apparently insensitive he was being, waved a hand nonchalantly as he sauntered over to crouch next to his companion. "Yes, yes, yes. It's terrible. We'll find who did it and.. Strike them down!" He glanced at Rory and shook his head, "Right, sorry. We won't do that. No striking anyone down." The Timelord huffed and stood up, one hand heading for his hair once again. "But how did he get in?" He asked, amid the noise of frustration Rory let out.

"I've got it!" Shouted Amy as she re-entered the console room. She hurried down the steps carrying an innocent looking green box, "Here." She said, kneeling down next to her husband and placing the box on the floor, flicking open the clasps in order to get to the first aid equipment inside. Rory began digging through the boxes items, pulling bits out every now and again. "So is he human?" She asked, tilting her head towards the boy, glancing between Rory and The Doctor.

"I- " Rory almost nodded, then stopped himself, worrying at his lower lip as he turned to look at The Doctor. "Is he?" He asked.

"He is." The Doctor said, lazily. "I've already scanned him with the sonic screwdriver. Doesn't seem to be dangerous, but you never know with you humans and all!" He seemed almost cheerful as he delivered the insult, but Amy and Rory ignored it, used to hearing slights against their race every now and again as The Doctor slid obliviously into cultural insensitivity.

Rory grabbed a wet wipe and began carefully dabbing it against the crusting blood under the boys nose. He wasn't bleeding anymore, but his eyes were rimmed with red and slightly swollen, giving away just how distressed he had been before he'd stumbled upon the TARDIS.

"Poor kid," Said Amy, frowning as she watched her husbands ministrations. She studied the boy for a moment, a crease appearing in her forehead, wondering what the story was behind this one, when suddenly she shot a hand out to still Rory as the boys eyelashes fluttered, eyes moving beneath lids. "I think he's waking up." She whispered, leaning a little closer to peer at the boys face.

Kurt had a feeling that he really, really shouldn't open his eyes. His head was throbbing and, whilst he half hoped he was curled up in bed at home, the floor beneath him felt cool and metallic, so it was likely he'd just passed out after a dumpster toss. How embarrassing, hopefully no one had seen.

...But he could hear voices, couldn't he? He could hear weird British accents talking around him and, oh _great_, he'd been found by strangers. Strangers who'd want to cart him off to the hospital or take him home and tell his father. The wall he was propped up against felt oddly, comfortingly, warm. Where the hell was he?

"Nnguh?" Kurt said, eloquently, as his eyes squinted open.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Kurt blinked, focussing on a brown haired man who was crouched in front of him and a pretty red haired woman who was smiling a little. He frowned at the question and flicked his eyes to glance around where ever he was, taking in the large room and the metal grating.

Oh.

The blue box. The bigger on the inside blue box that had locked itself when he'd entered. Only it couldn't have locked itself, because there were people in here now. What if they'd been in there the whole time? What if _they'd_locked the door?

Kurt was vaguely aware of the young man talking to him, but still flinched away when he felt something soft and wet touch his upper lip.

"Sorry!" Said the man, holding up a damp cloth that was rusty with dried blood. "I'm just trying to clean you up, I need to check out the damage." He smiled kindly, and this was echoed by the woman crouched behind him.

"M'fine." Kurt murmured, pushing himself away from the panel in order to sit up straighter, trying to hold back the wince as his ribs shifted.

"Ah, he speaks!" Came an excited voice, introducing the other person that Kurt hadn't really registered yet. The man in question was stood next to the stairs leading to the control room, staring intently, uncomfortably, at Kurt.

Rory dabbed the cloth against the dried blood on Kurt's face again, ignoring the flinch that accompanied it. "This is Rory," Said the red haired lady, smiling kindly. "He's a nurse, you're in good hands. I'm his wife Amy," She gestured over to the man by the stairs, "That's The Doctor."

".. So this is like, a hospital?" Asked Kurt, glancing critically at the so called Doctor. He couldn't help but feel a little disgruntled as all three of the strangers started laughing. "It's not funny." He said, wincing as he shifted where he was sat. "This thing is impossible."

"Oi!" Said The Doctor, loudly. "She's not a thing and she's certainly not impossible. She's my TARDIS." He sounded fond, oh god, Kurt was amongst mad people.

"Because that makes sense." He snapped, holding in a groan as he shifted to his knees, intending on getting up and getting the hell out of there because the bullies must have moved on right? And he seemed to have walked from the frying pan into the fire, from neanderthals with mean right hooks to mad people defying the laws of physics.

Rory was there immediately, putting one hand on the boys shoulder to settle him. He tried to ignore the way he flinched and hissed at the apparent pain he was refusing to admit. "Okay, calm down. I know this is a lot to take in, but we can explain everything. You need to keep still though, you're hurt."

"I said i'm fine." Great, another stubborn person.

"What's your name?" Asked Amy, still crouched down and smiling a little.

Finally, the boy slowed, glancing up at each of them suspiciously. "It's Kurt." He said after a beat, "Very nice to meet you all, but now I think I want to go home."

"Okay! Now we're getting somewhere!" It had come to Kurts attention that this Doctor person got extremely over excited over the smallest things, he might have escaped from some sort of asylum. It was, to say the least, slightly unnerving the way he was being stared out by the mad man. "So Kurt," The Doctor was babbling, "Kurt from Ohio. Kurt with the bowtie. Nice bowtie by the way, I like bowties, bowties are cool. Kurt, Kurt, Kurt."

Kurt, who was getting sick of hearing his name, stared in bewilderment at this insane spectacle. The Doctor didn't seem to notice the looks he was receiving, or if he did, he didn't care.

"Kurt." He said, again. "Don't worry about getting home, we can take you. Like I said, TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimension in Space. We can get you home before you even leave. Just one, quick question though, that's all." He stopped, finally, staring hard at the boy. "How did you get in?"

"I just.." He paused, thinking for a moment before settling on: "The door was unlocked and I needed somewhere to hide. Can I just go? Please?"

"What were you hiding from?" Asked Amy, her voice calm and soothing. She seemed to be treating Kurt like he was made of glass and, whilst he couldn't blame her because he really probably looked terrible at that particular moment in time, it was incredibly annoying, especially for someone as proud as him.

"I was playing hide and seek." Kurt snapped, "I won. It was great. Now please, excuse me, I'm going home." And with that, he struggled to his feet, waving off Rory as he moved to help.

"I love hide and seek." Said The Doctor, "We should play hide and seek! It'll-" He caught the look on Amy's face and faltered. "Later. We'll play later. Stop!" He held his hands out in front of him, causing Kurt, who had been slowly limping towards the door, to freeze. "Okay, you were playing hide and seek, obvious lie but you don't want to tell us the truth so.. Yes, well. Stay right there though, we might as well take you home."

"I don't get into cars with strangers. I'll be fine." Kurt folded his arms, remembering his sore ribs as they twinged with the movement. He was a little disconcerted as Amy and Rory began grinning widely and The Doctor spun on one heel, bounding up the metal stairs to the weird console thing that took up most of the room.

The mad man began pressing buttons and pulling levers, seemingly dancing around the grating. Kurt, after a moments hesitation, rattled off his address, which only seemed to prompt more frenzied movements which included at one point, Kurt was pretty sure, pushing over a slinky. He was surrounded by insanity, the notion that these people were mad scientists had already briefly been considered, and the more he watched, the more he thought he might be right.

"You might want to hold on," Said Amy, walking up the stairs to hold on to a railing.

"What? Why? What's going to ha- Ah!" Kurt's sentence was abruptly cut off as the whole room bucked, causing him to fall into the wall, jarring his injuries so badly that his breath was momentarily stolen from him. He jolted forward with the next shudder, managing to grab hold of one of the railings near the door, knuckles turning white from the pressure of his grip. After a few moments, the strange, loud noise that had sprung up with the first movement of the room began to fade away as the box seemed to settle with a thud. Kurt felt like his knees were made of jelly, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to let go of the railing he was clinging to any time soon.

"What- What was that?" He asked, his voice higher than usual out of fright.

"Sorry," Said Rory, letting go of the stool he'd been holding onto and brushing his hands off on his jeans. "He should've given you more warning." He shot a frown at The Doctor, whose smile faltered a little. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Said Kurt impatiently. "What _was_ that?"

"That's my TARDIS," The Doctor replied, fondly. "I told you, well I didn't tell you about that particular bit but it's too late for that now."

"It means Time and Relative Dimension in Space." Amy explained.

Kurt was still lost. "Which means what?"

"It means she's my ship, I travel in her." The Doctor said, "Through time and space."

"This is a time machine?" Kurt asked in disbelief, his voice heavy with scorn. He faltered at the three simultaneous nods he received. "This is a time machine." He repeated, taking a step towards the door. "Okay. Um, i'm just going to go then." A few more steps towards the door, he could reach the handle now. "Enjoy your travels." He said sarcastically, turning and opening the door (which was unlocked now, what the hell?) as quickly as he could.

Only to stop short.

"What the f-" He started, staring in bewilderment at the house and lawn in front of him. Where were the trees? Hell, where were the bullies? What in the world was-

"Told you!" Said The Doctor cheerfully, poking his head around the door next to where Kurt was stood. "Time and space, took you home. No need to thank me, really. You're well off aren't you?" All of this was said in one rapid breath and it took Kurt a moment to react, still in shock over the apparent journey he'd just taken.

"Took me ho- Doctor." He turned desperately to the Timelord. "This isn't my house."


End file.
